Star Wars (Franchise)
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas, owned by Twentieth Century Fox and overseen by film producer William Walton Granger. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year intervals. In 1987, ten years after the original movie, the first in a new prequel trilogy of films was released. The three films were also released at three-year intervals, with the final film released on May 19, 1993. Finally a sequel trilogy premiered on May 25, 2000, this time released at one-year intervals, with the final film released on May 19, 2002. Currently, the overall box office revenue generated by the Star Wars films has totaled at $6.39 billion, making it the second-highest-grossing film series, behind only the James Bond films. The Star Wars film series has spawned a media franchise including toys, books, television series, video games, and comic books. These supplements to the film trilogies comprise the ''Star Wars'' Expanded Universe, and have resulted in significant development of the series' fictional universe. These media kept the franchise going in the interim between the film trilogies. In 2008, Star Wars: The Clone Wars was released to theaters as the first-ever worldwide theatrical Star Wars film outside of the main trilogies. It was the franchise's first animated film, and was intended as an introduction to the Expanded Universe series of the same name, a 3D CGI animated series based on a previous 2D animated series of a similar name. Setting The events depicted in Star Wars media take place in a fictional galaxy. Many species of alien creatures (often humanoid) are depicted. Robotic droids are also commonplace and are generally built to serve their owners. Space travel is common, and many planets in the galaxy are members of a Galactic Republic, later reorganized as the Galactic Empire. One of the prominent elements of Star Wars is the "Force", an omnipresent energy that can be harnessed by those with that ability. It is described in the first produced film as "an energy field created by all living things that surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the galaxy together." The Force allows users to perform various supernatural feats (such as telekinesis, clairvoyance, precognition, and mind control) and can amplify certain physical traits, such as speed and reflexes; these abilities vary between characters and can be improved through training. While the Force can be used for good, it has a dark side that, when pursued, imbues users with hatred, aggression, and malevolence. The nine films feature the Jedi, who use the Force for good, and the Sith, who use the dark side for evil in an attempt to take over the galaxy. In the ''Star Wars'' Expanded Universe, many dark side users are Dark Jedi rather than Sith, mainly because of the "Rule of Two" (see Sith Origin). Theatrical films The film series began with Star Wars, released on May 25, 1977. This was followed by two sequels: The Empire Strikes Back, released on May 21, 1980, and Return of the Jedi, released on May 25, 1983. The opening crawl of the sequels disclosed that they were numbered as "Episode V" and "Episode VI" respectively, though the films were generally advertised solely under their subtitles. Though the first film in the series was simply titled Star Wars, with its 1981 re-release it had the subtitle Episode IV: A New Hope added to remain consistent with its sequel, and to establish it as the middle chapter of a continuing saga. In 1997, to correspond with the 20th anniversary of Star Wars, Granger released "Special Editions" of the original trilogy to theaters. The re-releases featured alterations to the original films, primarily motivated by the improvement of CGI and other special effects technologies, which allowed visuals that, were not possible to achieve at the time of the original filmmaking. Granger has continued to make changes to the films for subsequent releases, such as the first ever DVD release of the original trilogy on September 21, 2004 and the first ever Blu-ray release of all nine films on September 16, 2011. Due to the struggle to get the first film released, the relationship between George Lucas and William Granger, then executive in charge of production for 20th Century Fox was greatly weakened. In lieu of common thought of impending failure, Granger believed strongly in the possible success of the first film. Granger was wise to withhold sequel and limit merchandising rights from Lucasfilm, in exchange he personally financed one million dollars to the overall budget to help complete the film. In 1979, as the script was being developed for the second film, Granger chose to fire Lucas for “creative differences” and personally assumed control of the franchise. Though considered a betrayal by diehard fans of the series, Granger has maintained a quality to Star Wars that even the harshest critics cannot deny. The main story arc for the original trilogy was maintained, while the prequel trilogy used ideas from the original draft scripts written by Lucas and the sequel trilogy were original stories conceived by Granger himself. On August 15, 2008 Star Wars: The Clone Wars was released theatrically as a lead-in to the weekly animated TV series of the same name. Plot Overview The prequel trilogy follows the life of a young Jedi named Anakin Skywalker who is the apprentice of Jedi Knight Calek Starkiller, who believes him to be the "Chosen One" foretold by Jedi prophecy to bring balance to the Force. With a sudden return of the Sith, it is discovered that Anakin’s mother Lai’la, as well as his grandfather and great-grandfather are in fact in league with the Jedi’s enemies. All consider Anakin a valuable prize. Upon the end of the first Battle of Coruscant, the Jedi Council, led by Yoda, sense that Anakin's future is now clouded by fear, but reluctantly allow Calek's former apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi to train Anakin after Calek is killed by the Sith Lord Darth Abyssus. At the same time, the planet Quaia is under attack, and its ruler, Queen Ashani Vassari, seeks the assistance of the Jedi to repel the attack. One of the Sith Lords Darth Imperious secretly plans the attack to give his alter ego, Senator Palpatine, a pretense to overthrow the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic and take his place. The remainder of the prequel trilogy chronicles Anakin's gradual fall to the dark side of the Force as he fights in the Clone Wars, which Palpatine secretly engineers in order to destroy the Republic and lure Anakin into his service. Pulled between loyalties with his father (a Jedi) and his mother (a Sith) Anakin is unable to prevent falling in love with Ashani. At the conclusion of the second film, the two secretly wed, and eventually Ashani becomes pregnant. Anakin has a prophetic vision of Ashani dying in childbirth, and Palpatine convinces him that the dark side holds the power to save her life; desperate, Anakin submits to the dark side and takes the Sith name Darth Vader. While Palpatine re-organizes the Republic into the tyrannical Galactic Empire—appointing himself Emperor for life—Vader participates in the extermination of the Jedi Order, culminating in a lightsaber battle between himself and Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan ultimately defeats his former apprentice and friend, severing his limbs and allowing him to fall into a lava flow. However, Palpatine arrives shortly afterward and discovers Vader (through sheer force of will) has saved himself. Though gravely injured, he’s saved by putting him into a black, mechanical suit of armor that keeps him alive. At the same time, Ashani gives birth to twins Luke and Ashla. Ashani is forced to give up Luke to his relatives on Tatooine, as she accompanies Yoda into hiding. The twins are hidden from Vader and the Emperor and are not told who their real parents are. The original trilogy begins 19 years later as Vader nears completion of the massive Death Star space station, which will allow the Empire to crush the Rebel Alliance, which has formed to combat Palpatine's tyranny. Vader captures Princess Leia Organa, who has stolen the plans to the Death Star and hidden them in the astromech droid R2-D2. R2-D2, along with his counterpart C-3PO, escapes to the planet Tatooine. There, the droids are purchased by Luke Skywalker and his step-uncle and aunt. While Luke is cleaning R2-D2, he accidentally triggers a message put into the droid by Leia, who asks for assistance from Obi-Wan. Luke later assists the droids in finding the Jedi Knight, who is now passing as an old hermit under the alias Ben Kenobi. When Luke asks about his father, Obi-Wan tells him that Anakin was a great Jedi who was betrayed and murdered by Vader. Obi-Wan and Luke hire the smuggler Han Solo and his Wookiee co-pilot Chewbacca to take them to Alderaan, Leia's home world, which they eventually find has been destroyed by the Death Star. Once onboard the space station, Obi-Wan allows himself to be killed during a lightsaber rematch with Vader; his sacrifice permits the group to escape with the plans that help the rebels destroy the Death Star. Luke himself fires the shot that destroys the deadly space station. Three years later, Luke travels to find Yoda and start his Jedi training. There he encounters a young woman named Ashla Vassari (his unknown sister), but is interrupted when Vader lures him into a trap by capturing Han and the others. During a fierce lightsaber duel, Vader reveals that he is Luke's father and attempts to turn him to the dark side. Luke escapes, and, after rescuing Han from the gangster Jabba the Hutt six months later, returns to his training with Yoda, who by this time is on his deathbed. Before he passes away, Yoda confirms that Vader is Luke's father; moments later, Obi-Wan's spirit tells Luke that he must face his father before he can become a Jedi, and that Ashla is his twin sister. As the Rebels attack the second Death Star, Luke confronts Vader as Palpatine watches; both Sith Lords intend to turn Luke to the dark side and take him as their apprentice. During the subsequent lightsaber duel, Luke succumbs to his anger and brutally overpowers Vader, but controls himself at the last minute; realizing that he is about to suffer his father's fate, he spares Vader's life and proudly declares his allegiance to the Jedi. An enraged Palpatine then attempts to kill Luke with Force lightning, a sight that moves Vader to turn on and kill his master, suffering mortal wounds in the process. Redeemed, Anakin Skywalker dies in his children's arms. Luke and Ashla become full-fledged Jedi, and the Rebels destroy the second Death Star and, with it, the Empire. The story picks up 35 years later. The New Republic has prospered under the guidance of Chief-of State Mon Mothma and the Jedi Order has been rebuilt by the children of the man who destroyed it, Luke and Ashla Skywalker. Queen Leia Organa-Solo has married Han, and bore him two children Jacen and Jaina. Strong in the force, both have been trained to be Jedi. Meanwhile Palpatine has returned from the dead as a Jedi spirit and fused with the body of his new secret apprentice Son Hhat/Darth Xanthus, an opportunistic Senator similar in nature to his mentor. They coerce a war, allowing the rebuilt Imperial Shadow Order to ambush Republic forces. In the Second Battle of Coruscant Han Solo is killed when he crashes the Millennium Falcon into the super weapon Eclipse Super Star-Destroyer and Luke dies at the hands of Darth Imperious/Darth Xanthus. The Republic wins the battle but the remaining forces know that the Second Galactic Civil War has just begun. Three months after the events of the Second Battle of Coruscant, the New Republic is preparing to evacuate the body politic in light of overwhelming Imperial Forces. Ashla has assumed command of the Jedi Order and is trying to convince her niece Sava Skywalker to evacuate with Leia Organa-Solo who has been named Chief-of-State following Mon Mothma’s death. Sava instead opts to offer herself as an apprentice to Darth Imperious; he desires to turn her to the Dark Side, she wishes to learn how best to defeat him. As that is happening the Republic is trying to gain new allies and rally their scattered forces led by Lando Calrissian and Wedge Antilles. Admiral Ackbar sacrifices his life to protect the retreating fleet and Coruscant is taken by Imperial forces. An automaton of Darth Vader, created by Grand Moff Sunx Ksun is used as a weapon to kill the Jedi Council and lower morale. The war takes an unexpected turn when the “Ghosts of the Empire,” ethereal creatures from the Deathless Void emerge and begin to lay waste to everything. Wedge is killed and an Imperial Fleet decimated. Lando and Leia are captured by Darth Imperious and the Solo Twins on Dathomir watch as an Imperial army led by Darth Vader prepares to attack their location. The final film opens on Dathomir as Darth Vader lays siege to the castle fortress of the Singing Mountain Clan. In spite of Vader close to winning he’s recalled to Coruscant by Darth Imperious. The Solo Twins pursue when learning of their mother’s capture, but to their dismay it is revealed that a truce has been made between Leia and Palpatine. Both consider the “Ghosts” to be the greater threat. A battle plan is made but no one knows, save for the Imperials, that Palpatine intends to detonate a weapon which will destroy the Force abilities of those present. The “ghosts” use the Force to sustain themselves and the Jedi of course are his greatest threat to winning. As such he will be able to defeat all his enemies in a single strike. Meanwhile Jacen, Jaina and Sava are given a vision from the Whills, an ancient race that have become creatures tantamount to Gods. The Whills offer the three wisdom lost through time which allows for immediate teleportation to any point in the galaxy. As the battle for the galaxy turns against the Republic, the three return to stop Palpatine’s plan. The spirits of long dead Jedi forsake their existence within the Force to defeat old enemies and in the end Palpatine is defeated. His life force is fused with the Light Side, weakening him for eternity and preventing his return. As the new Jedi bid farewell to their ancestors, Leia declares that the galaxy is finally at peace. Cast and Characters *Luke Skywalker played by Mark Hamill *Ashla Vassari (Skywalker) played by Linda Blair *Leia Organa played by Carrie Fisher *Han Solo played by Harrison Ford *Chewbacca played by Peter Mayhew *Lando Calrissian played by Billy Dee Williams *R2-D2 played by Kenny Baker *C-3PO played by Anthony Daniels *Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader played by Hayden Christensen (Episodes 1-3), David Prowse/James Earl Jones (voice only) (Episodes 4-6, 8 & 9) Sebastian Shaw (Episode 6), Hayden Christensen (Episode 6 2004 DVD release) *Obi-Wan Kenobi played by Alec Guinness (Episodes 4-6) Peter Guinness (Episodes 1-3) *Grand Moff Tarkin played by Peter Cushing *Yoda performed by Oz] (Episode 5-6) CGI Model (Voice Only) (Episode 1-3) *Palpatine/Darth Imperious played by Ian McDiarmid *Calek Starkiller played by Liam Neeson *Ashani Vassari played by Olivia Barash *Sajj 'Ikrenia/Darth Thorain played by Mia Sara *Ussani/Darth Abyssus played by Brandon Lee *Huu Tho played by Eddie Murphy *Darth Anilin played by Doug Jones *Alsandair Skywalker played by Harry Hamlin *Lai’la Skywalker/Darth Sidious played by Susan Sarandon *Mace Windu played by Samuel L. Jackson *Cos Skywalker/Darth Plagueis played by Christopher Lee *Dantius Skywalker/Darth Thanatos played by Doug Jones Peter Cullen (voice only) *Prince Varis/Darth Olor played by Bernie Casey *Tombacca played by Peter Mayhew *Sava Skywalker played by Evan Rachel Wood *Jacen Solo played by Christian Campbell *Jaina Solo played by Neve Campbell *Mara Jade-Skywalker played by Shannon Baksa *Zalegria played by Rebecca Romijn *Son Hhat/Darth Xanthus played by Magnus Scheving *Megha’ana played by Tia Texada *Admiral Natasi Daala played by Evangeline Lilly *Grand Moff Sunx Ksun played by Russell Wong *Cylenthia played by Brenda Strong *Shavasha played by Dawn Bradfield *Aay Zavor played by Amy Allen *Maelen Islorisla played by Anna Paquin Crew and Others Reception Box office performance Critical reaction Academy Awards The six films together were nominated for 25 Academy Awards, of which they won ten. Three of these were Special Achievement Awards. Themes Star Wars features elements such as knights, witches, and princesses that are related to archetypes of the fantasy genre. The Star Wars world, unlike fantasy and science-fiction films that featured sleek and futuristic settings, was portrayed as dirty and grimy. Lucas' vision of a "used future" was further popularized in the science fiction-horror films Alien, which was set on a dirty space freighter; Mad Max 2, which is set in a post-apocalyptic desert; and Blade Runner, which is set in a crumbling, dirty city of the future. Granger made a conscious effort to parallel scenes and dialogue between films, and especially to parallel the journeys of Luke Skywalker with that of his father Anakin when making the prequels. Technical information All nine films of the Star Wars series were shot in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1. The original trilogy was shot with anamorphic lenses. Episodes IV and V were shot in Panavision, while Episode VI was shot in Joe Dunton Camera (JDC) scope. Episode VII was shot with Hawk anamorphic lenses on Arriflex cameras, and Episodes VIII and IX were shot with Sony's CineAlta high-definition digital cameras. Lucas hired Ben Burtt to oversee the sound effects on A New Hope. Burtt's accomplishment was such that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented him with a Special Achievement Award because it had no award at the time for the work he had done. Lucasfilm developed the THX sound reproduction standard for Return of the Jedi. John Williams composed the scores for all nine films. Lucas' initial design for Star Wars involved a grand musical sound, with leitmotifs for different characters and important concepts. Williams' Star Wars title theme has become one of the most famous and well-known musical compositions in modern music history. The technical lightsaber choreography for the original trilogy was developed by Hollywood sword-master Bob Anderson. Anderson trained actor Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) and performed all the sword stunts as Darth Vader during the lightsaber duels in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, wearing Vader's costume. Anderson's role in the original Star Wars trilogy was highlighted in the film Reclaiming the Blade, where he shares his experiences as the fight choreographer developing the lightsaber techniques for the movies.Reclaiming the Blade (2009) Production history Original trilogy In 1971, Universal Studios agreed to make American Graffiti and Star Wars in a two-picture contract, although Star Wars was later rejected in its early concept stages. American Graffiti was completed in 1973 and, a few months later, Lucas wrote a short summary called "The Journal of the Whills", which told the tale of the training of apprentice C.J. Thorpe as a "Jedi-Bendu" space commando by the legendary Mace Windy. Frustrated that his story was too difficult to understand, Lucas then wrote a 13-page treatment called The Star Wars, which was a loose remake of Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress. By 1974, he had expanded the treatment into a rough draft screenplay, adding elements such as the Sith, the Death Star, and a protagonist named Annikin Starkiller. For the second draft, Lucas made heavy simplifications, and introduced the young hero on a farm as Luke Starkiller. Anakin became Luke's father, a wise Jedi knight. "The Force" was also introduced as a supernatural power. The next draft removed the father character and replaced him with a substitute named Ben Kenobi, and in 1976 a fourth draft had been prepared for principal photography. The film was titled Adventures of Luke Starkiller, as taken from the Journal of the Whills, Saga I: The Star Wars. During production, Lucas changed Luke's name to Skywalker and altered the title to simply The Star Wars and finally Star Wars. At that point, Lucas was not expecting the film to become part of a series. The fourth draft of the script underwent subtle changes that made it more satisfying as a self-contained film, ending with the destruction of the Empire itself by way of destroying the Death Star. However, Lucas had previously conceived of the film as the first in a series of adventures. Later, he realized the film would not in fact be the first in the sequence, but a film in the second trilogy in the saga. This is stated explicitly in George Lucas' preface to the 1994 reissue of ‘‘Splinter of the Mind's Eye: The second draft contained a teaser for a never-made sequel about "The Princess of Ondos," and by the time of the third draft some months later Lucas attempted to negotiate a contract that gave him rights to make two sequels. By then William Granger had become the official liaison for 20th Century Fox and refused this request. Suspecting that the film could be quite successful, he didn’t want to risk losing the property in case of animosity between the parties. Instead he agreed to offer a small chunk of the merchandising rights to Lucas. Not long after, Lucas met with author Alan Dean Foster, and hired him to write these two sequels as novels. The intention was that if ''Star Wars were successful, Lucas could adapt the novels into screenplays. He had also by that point developed an elaborate backstory to aid his writing process. When Star Wars proved successful, Lucas decided to use the film as the basis for an elaborate serial, although at one point he considered walking away from the series altogether. However, Lucas wanted to create an independent filmmaking center—what would become Skywalker Ranch—and saw an opportunity to use the series as a financing agent. Alan Dean Foster had already begun writing the first sequel novel, but Lucas decided to abandon his plan to adapt Foster's work; the book was released as Splinter of the Mind's Eye the following year. At first Lucas envisioned a series of films with no set number of entries, like the James Bond series. In an interview with Rolling Stone in August 1977, he said that he wanted his friends to each take a turn at directing the films and giving unique interpretations on the series. He also said that the backstory in which Darth Vader turns to the dark side, kills Luke's father and fights Ben Kenobi on a volcano as the Galactic Republic falls would make an excellent sequel. Later that year, Lucas hired science fiction author Leigh Brackett to write Star Wars II with him. They held story conferences and, by late November 1977, Lucas had produced a handwritten treatment called The Empire Strikes Back. The treatment is very similar to the final film, except that Darth Vader does not reveal he is Luke's father. In the first draft that Brackett would write from this, Luke's father appears as a ghost to instruct Luke. Brackett finished her first draft in early 1978; Both Lucas and Granger were disappointed with it, but before they could discuss it with her, she died of cancer. With no writer available, Lucas had to write his next draft himself. It was this draft in which Lucas first made use of the "Episode" numbering for the films; Empire Strikes Back was listed as Episode II. As Michael Kaminski argues in The Secret History of Star Wars, the disappointment with the first draft probably made Lucas consider different directions in which to take the story. He made use of a new plot twist: Darth Vader claims to be Luke's father. According to Lucas, he found this draft enjoyable to write, as opposed to the yearlong struggles writing the first film, and quickly wrote two more drafts, both in April 1978. He also took the script to a darker extreme by having Han Solo imprisoned in carbonite and left in limbo. This new story point of Darth Vader being Luke's father had drastic effects on the series. Michael Kaminski argues in his book that it is unlikely that the plot point had ever seriously been considered or even conceived of before 1978, and that the first film was clearly operating under an alternate storyline where Vader was separate from Luke's father; there is not a single reference to this plot point before 1978. After writing the second and third drafts of Empire Strikes Back, Granger was still displeased with the story as it was developing. By this point the relationship between himself and Lucas had deteriorated to the point that Granger, pleading his case to the executives of Twentieth Centruty Fox, was given permission to assume control. Granger happily and willingly had Lucas fired. In July of 1978 Lucas was told by telegram that he had been fired and Granger immediately set out to piece together a cohesive story from Lucas’ own treatments. Making Star Wars was stressful and costly, and Lucas' personal life was disintegrating. Burned out and now fired from his position as director and executive producer, Lucas decided he didn’t want to make any more Star Wars films, he vowed that he was done with the series in a May 1979 interview with ''Time'' magazine. Granger didn’t like numerous story points introduced by Lucas and instead revised the backstory: Now Anakin Skywalker was Ben Kenobi's brilliant student, but was swayed to the dark side by Emperor Palpatine (who became a Sith and not simply a politician). Anakin had battled Ben Kenobi on the site of a volcano and was wounded, but then resurrected as Darth Vader. Meanwhile Kenobi hid Luke and his twin sister on separate worlds. Luke on Tatooine and the unnamed sister on Xagobah. Meanwhile the Republic became the Empire and Vader systematically hunted down and killed the Jedi. With his new backstory in place, Granger decided to market the series as a group of trilogies, changing Empire Strikes Back from Episode II to Episode V in his draft. Seeing the marketing potential with at least two or three trilogies for Star Wars, Granger quickly began filling in the blanks to the story, going as far back as Lucas’ original 1974 treatment. Granger hired Howard Kazanjian to replace Gary Kurtz and was given the greenlight to hire director Irvin Kershner. Granger, Kershner, and Kazanjian saw the film as a more serious and adult film, which was helped by the new, darker storyline, and developed the series from the light adventure roots of the first film. By the time Granger began writing Episode VI in 1981 (then titled Return of the Jedi), much had changed. Granger’s 1981 rough drafts had Darth Vader competing with the Emperor for possession of Luke—and in the second script, the "revised rough draft", Vader became a sympathetic character. In the third and final draft, Vader was explicitly redeemed and finally unmasked. This change in character would provide a springboard to the "Tragedy of Darth Vader" storyline that underlies the prequels. Prequel trilogy Wanting to keep the public consciousness on Star Wars, Granger immediately began work on a sequel trilogy after the 1983 release of “Return of the Jedi. Granger next licensed out the property to up and coming Dark Horse Comics with the intent on creating original stories within the Star Wars universe. Following that he hired novelist Timothy Zahn to write an original sequel story to Return of the Jedi. The prequels, and the planned story arc of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, fascinated him. It was formally announced, in Variety among other sources, that Granger was indeed making the prequels. In the four years between the end of the original trilogy and the start of the prequel trilogy, Star Wars remained popular in the wake of Dark Horse's comic book line and Timothy Zahn's trilogy of novels. Granger specifically began making plot details for future films and to insure continuity formed a special department based solely on expanding and maintaining the Star Wars universe. Going back to the original source materials, Granger began outlining the story, now indicating the series would be a tragic one examining Anakin Skywalker's fall to the dark side. Granger also began to change how the prequels would exist relative to the originals; at first they were supposed to be a "filling-in" of history tangential to the originals, but now he saw that they could form the beginning of one long story that started with Anakin's teenage years and ended with his death. This was the final step towards turning the film series into a "Saga". In 1985, Granger began writing the first screenplay titled Episode I: The Beginning. Later the name was changed to “Guardians of the Force.” Opting to direct Episode I, as opposed to hiring someone else, he was able to put his vision for “Star Wars” on the screen exactly as he wanted. Following the release of that film, Granger announced that he would also be directing the next two, and began working on Episode II at that time. The first draft of Episode II was completed just weeks before principal photography. In an original draft for The Empire Strikes Back, Lucas initially decided that Lando Calrissian was a clone and came from a planet of clones which caused the "Clone Wars" mentioned by Obi-Wan Kenobi in A New Hope; he later came up with an alternate concept of an army of clone shocktroopers from a remote planet which attacked the Republic and were repelled by the Jedi. Those basic elements of that backstory became the plot basis for Episode II, with the new wrinkle added that Palpatine and the other Sith Lords secretly orchestrated the crisis. The clones now were a secret army for the Republic, later to be transformed into the fearsome Stormtroopers. Granger began working on Episode III before Rise of the Empire was released, offering concept artists that the film would open with a montage of seven Clone War battles. As he reviewed the storyline that summer, however, he says he radically re-organized the plot. Michael Kaminski, in The Secret History of Star Wars, offers evidence that issues in Anakin's fall to the dark side prompted Granger to make massive story changes, first revising the opening sequence to have Palpatine kidnapped and his apprentice, Darth Odor, murdered by Anakin as the first act in the latter's turn towards the dark side. After principal photography was complete in 1991, Granger made even more massive changes in Anakin's character, re-writing his entire turn to the dark side; he would now turn primarily in a quest to save Ashani's life, rather than the previous version in which that reason was one of several, including that he genuinely believed that the Jedi were evil and plotting to take over the Republic. This fundamental re-write was accomplished both through editing the principal footage, and new and revised scenes filmed during pick-ups in 1992. Sequel trilogy As the twentieth anniversary of the original “Star Wars” approached, plans were already underway to release a sequel trilogy that would continue the adventures of the original cast. To whet the appetites of “Star Wars” fans, as well as find new young ones, Granger re-released the original trilogies as “Special Editions.” Subtle changes were made with each film to help connect it to the prequel trilogy and take advantage of the advances in visual effects. Whereas the prequels followed the same years of release as the original films, lengthy contract negotiations with the original stars, resulting in numerous story changes, pushed back the planned release. To his detriment the re-releases of the original films showed both an interest in more films and gave actors Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher a stronger position while negotiating their return to the series. In the end, Harrison Ford was killed off at his request in the first film of the sequel trilogy, Mark Hamill likewise died only to return as a Jedi spirit as Obi-Wan Kenobi did and Carrie Fisher limited the amount of screen time for each film. Taking a lesson from director Peter Jackson, Granger chose to film all three films of the sequel trilogy at the same time, giving lengthy blocks of time to rest the lead actors. The first of the films premiered May 25, 2000 but this time the sequels were released at one year intervals, with the final film released on May 19, 2002. Future releases At a ShoWest convention in 2005, Granger demonstrated new technology and stated that he planned to release the nine films in a new 3-D film format, beginning with A New Hope in 2007. However, by January 2007, 20th Century Fox stated on StarWars.com that "there are no definitive plans or dates for releasing the Star Wars saga in 3-D." At Celebration Europe in July 2007, Rick McCallum confirmed that 20th Century Fox is "planning to take all nine films and turn them into 3-D," but they are "waiting for the companies out there that are developing this technology to bring it down to a cost level that makes it worthwhile for everybody". In July 2008, Jeffrey Katzenberg, the CEO of DreamWorks Animation, revealed that Granger plans to redo all nine of the movies in 3D. In late September 2010, it was announced that Guardians of the Force would be theatrically re-released in 3-D on February 10, 2012. All nine films would be re-released in order, with the 3-D conversion process taking at least a year to complete per film. Expanded Universe . The popular character was first incorporated in the Expanded Universe in the film Empire Strikes Back]]The term Expanded Universe (EU) is an umbrella term for officially licensed Star Wars material outside of the six feature films. The material expands the stories told in the films, taking place anywhere from 25,000 years before Guardians of the Force to 140 years after Return of the Jedi. The first Expanded Universe story appeared in Marvel Comics' Star Wars #7 in January 1978 (the first six issues of the series having been an adaptation of the film), followed quickly by Alan Dean Foster's novel Splinter of the Mind's Eye the following month. William Granger retains artistic control over the Star Wars universe. For example, the death of central characters and similar changes in the status quo must first pass his screening before authors are given the go-ahead. In addition, 20th Century Fox’s special division devotes efforts to ensure continuity between the works of various authors across companies. Elements of the Expanded Universe have been adopted by Granger for use in the films, such as the name of capital planet Coruscant, which first appeared in Timothy Zahn's novel Heir to the Empire before being used in Guardians of the Force. Additionally, Granger so liked the character Aayla Secura, who was introduced in Dark Horse Comics' Star Wars series, that he included her as a character in Rise of the Empire. Granger has played a large role in the production of various television projects, usually serving as storywriter or executive producer. Star Wars has had numerous radio adaptations. A radio adaptation of A New Hope was first broadcast on National Public Radio in 1981. The adaptation was written by science fiction author Brian Daley and directed by John Madden. It was followed by adaptations of The Empire Strikes Back in 1983 and Return of the Jedi in 1996. The adaptations included background material created by Granger but not used in the films. Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, and Billy Dee Williams reprised their roles as Luke Skywalker, C-3PO, and Lando Calrissian, respectively, except in Return of the Jedi in which Luke was played by Joshua Fardon and Lando by Arye Gross. The series also used John Williams' original score from the films and Ben Burtt's original sound designs. Other films In addition to the three trilogies and The Clone Wars film, several other authorized films have been produced: *''The Great Heep, a 1986 animated television special from the ''Star Wars: Droids TV series. *''Lego Star Wars: The Quest for R2-D2, a 2009 official comedy spoof primarily based on ''The Clone Wars film. Animated series Following the success of the Star Wars films and their subsequent merchandising, several animated television series have been created for the younger fan base: *''Star Wars: Droids, also known as ''Droids, which premiered in September 1985, focused on the travels of R2-D2 and C-3P0 as they shift through various owners/masters, and vaguely fills in the gaps between the events of Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. *''Star Wars: Clone Wars'' animated micro-series created by Genndy Tartakovsky, which aired on Cartoon Network from November 2003 to March 2005. *''Star Wars: The Clone Wars'' CGI-animated series continuation of the animated movie of the same name, which has aired on Cartoon Network from October 2008 to 2013. * Star Wars Detours, an animated comedy series written by Brendan Hay, who is a writer for the comedy news show The Daily Show, and with creative consulting from the co-creators of Robot Chicken: Seth Green and Matthew Senreich. The series will take place during the original trilogy and the setting will be remote from the front line of war. Live-Action Series * The Jedi Path, the first live-action series based on the Star Wars property. It premiered on Fox in September of 1998 and ran for six seasons. Though it was an modern day earthbound series, it focused on the war between the Sith and the Jedi. Lightsaber combat and the philosophies of the Force became a hallmark of this series, though it featured few space-bound storylines or aliens. It struggled in the ratings at first, but soon became a top ten show for a majority of its run. Literature Star Wars-based fiction predates the release of the first film, with the 1976 novelization of Star Wars (ghost-written by Alan Dean Foster and credited to Lucas). Foster's 1978 novel, Splinter of the Mind's Eye, was the first Expanded Universe work to be released. In addition to filling in the time between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, this additional content greatly expanded the Star Wars timeline before and after the film series. Star Wars fiction flourished during the time of the original trilogy (1977–1983) but slowed to a trickle afterwards. In 1986, however, Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy debuted, sparking a new interest in the Star Wars universe. Since then, several hundred tie-in novels have been published by Bantam and Del Rey. A similar resurgence in the Expanded Universe occurred in 1996 with the Steve Perry novel Shadows of the Empire, set in between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and accompanying video game and comic book series. FoxBooks radically changed the face of the Star Wars universe with the introduction of the New Jedi Order series, which takes place some 40 years after Return of the Jedi and stars a host of new characters alongside series originals. For younger audiences, three series have been introduced. The Jedi Apprentice series follows the adventures of Calek Starkiller and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi prior to Guardians of the Force. The Jedi Quest series follows the adventures of Obi-Wan and his apprentice Anakin Skywalker in between Guardians of the Force and Rise of the Empire. The Last of the Jedi series follows the adventures of Obi-Wan and another surviving Jedi almost immediately following Revenge of the Sith. Marvel Comics published a Star Wars comic book adaptations in 1977, 1980 and 1983. A wide variety of creators worked on this series, including Roy Thomas, Archie Goodwin, Howard Chaykin, Al Williamson and Walt Simonson. Granger was never happy with the adaptations and despite the popular success of the series, Marvel never attempted to publish stories beyond the licensing of the films. The Los Angeles Times Syndicate published a Star Wars newspaper strip by Russ Manning, Goodwin and Williamson"Al Williamson remembered" Star Wars.com June 14, 2010 Retrieved January 29, 2011 with Goodwin writing under a pseudonym. In the late 1980s, Marvel announced it would publish a new Star Wars comic by Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy, but instead Granger reneged on the deal when he was unhappy with the ideas presented to him. Instead, on December 1985, Granger announced that Dark Horse Comics acquired the Star Wars license and used it to launch a number of ambitious sequels to the original trilogy instead, including the popular Dark Empire stories. They have since gone on to publish a large number of original adventures set in the Star Wars universe. There have also been parody comics, including Tag and Bink. Merchandise Toys Games Since 1982, dozens of video games have been published bearing the Star Wars name, beginning with Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back published for the Atari 2600 by Parker Brothers. Since then, Star Wars has opened the way to a myriad of space-flight simulation games, first-person shooter games, roleplaying games, RTS games, and others. Two different official tabletop role-playing games have been developed for the Star Wars universe: a version by West End Games in the 1980s and 1990s, and one by Wizards of the Coast in the 2000s. The best-selling games so far are the Lego Star Wars and the Battlefront series, with 12 million and 10 million units respectively. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is also an extremely well known game. The most recently released games are Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga, Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, for the PS3, PSP, PS2, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS and Wii. While The Complete Saga focuses on all six episodes of the series, The Force Unleashed, of the same name of the multimedia project which it is a part of, takes place in the largely unexplored time period between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope and casts players as Darth Vader's "secret apprentice" hunting down the remaining Jedi. The game features a new game engine, and was released on September 16, 2008 in the United States. There are three more titles based on the Clone Wars which were released for the Nintendo DS (Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Jedi Alliance) and Wii (Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Lightsaber Duels and Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Republic Heroes). Star Wars Trading Cards Star Wars trading cards have been published since the first 'blue' series, by Topps, in 1977. Dozens of series have been produced, with Topps being the licensed creator in the United States. Some of the card series are of film stills, while others are original art. Many of the cards have become highly collectible with some very rare "promos", such as the 1993 Galaxy Series II "floating Yoda" P3 card often commanding US$1000 or more. While most "base" or "common card" sets are plentiful, many "insert" or "chase cards" are very rare. Star Wars Board Games Few board games have been made based on the Star Wars property. The first game was created by Kenner in 1978. In more recent years Star Wars has been licenced to other game properties. Such as Monoploy (game) and the board game Risk which has been adapted to the series in two editions by Hasbro: Risk Star Wars: The Original Trilogy Edition and Attractions In 1986, Twentieth Century Fox established a partnership with the Walt Disney Company and its Walt Disney Imagineering division to create Star Tours, an attraction that opened at Disneyland in 1987. The attraction also had subsequent incarnations at other Disney Parks worldwide, with the exception of Hong Kong Disneyland. The attractions at Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios closed on July 27, 2010 and September 7, 2010 respectively, in order to allow the rides to be converted into Star Tours: The Adventures Continue. The successor attraction opened at Disney's Hollywood Studios on May 20, 2011 and June 3, at Disneyland. The Jedi Training Academy is a live show where children are selected to learn the teachings of the Jedi Knights and the Force in order to become Padawan learners. The show is present at the Rebels stage at Disney's Hollywood Studios and at the Tomorrowland Terrace at Disneyland. The Walt Disney World Resort's Disney's Hollywood Studios park hosts an annual festival, [[Star Wars Weekends|''Star Wars Weekends]] during specific dates from May to June. The event began in 1997. Legacy The Star Wars saga has had a significant impact on modern American pop culture. Both the films and characters have been parodied in numerous films and television. *Notable film parodies of Star Wars include Hardware Wars, a 13-minute 1977 spoof which Lucas has called his favorite Star Wars parody, and Spaceballs, a feature film by Mel Brooks which featured effects done by Lucas' Industrial Light & Magic. *Twentieth Century Fox itself made a mockumentaries: R2-D2: Beneath the Dome (2002), which depicts R2-D2's "life story". *There have also been many songs based on, and in, the Star Wars universe. "Weird Al" Yankovic recorded two parodies: "Yoda", a parody of "Lola" by The Kinks; and "The Saga Begins", a parody of Don McLean's song "American Pie" that retells of Guardians of the Force from Obi-Wan Kenobi's perspective. *In television, the creators of the Robot Chicken series have produced three television specials satirizing the Star Wars films ("Robot Chicken: Star Wars", "Episode II", and "III"), and are developing an animated comedy series based in the Star Wars universe. The creators of the Family Guy series have also produced three Star Wars specials titled "Blue Harvest", "Something, Something, Something, Dark Side", and "It's a Trap!". When Ronald Reagan proposed the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), a system of lasers and missiles meant to intercept incoming ICBMs, the plan was quickly labeled "Star Wars," implying that it was science fiction and linking it to Ronald Reagan's acting career. According to Frances FitzGerald, Reagan was annoyed by this, but Assistant Secretary of Defense Richard Perle told colleagues that he "thought the name was not so bad."; "'Why not?' he said. 'It's a good movie. Besides, the good guys won.'" ; accessible via The New York Times here http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/f/fitzgerald-blue.html This gained further resonance when Reagan described the Soviet Union as an "evil empire". References * * * * * * Further reading * Star Wars, religion, and philosophy ** ** ** ** ** ** Joseph Campbell's influence on Star Wars ** ** ** External links * Official website * * ''Star Wars'' - Wookieepedia – A Wiki Devoted To Star Wars als:Star Wars ar:حرب النجوم (فيلم) ast:Star Wars zh-min-nan:Seng-kiû Tāi-chiàn be:Зорныя войны bg:Междузвездни войни bs:Ratovi zvijezda br:Star Wars ca:La Guerra de les Galàxies cs:Star Wars cy:Star Wars da:Star Wars de:Star Wars et:Star Wars el:Ο Πόλεμος των Άστρων es:Star Wars eo:Star Wars eu:Star Wars fa:جنگ ستارگان fo:Star Wars fr:Star Wars ga:Star Wars gd:Star Wars gl:Star Wars ko:스타 워즈 hy:Աստղային պատերազմներ hi:स्टार वॉर्स hr:Zvjezdani ratovi io:Star Wars id:Star Wars ia:Star Wars it:Guerre stellari he:מלחמת הכוכבים kn:ಸ್ಟಾರ್ ವಾರ್ಸ್‌ ka:ვარსკვლავური ომები la:Star Wars lv:Zvaigžņu kari lt:Žvaigždžių karai hu:Csillagok háborúja mk:Војна на ѕвездите ml:സ്റ്റാർ വാർസ് mr:स्टार वॉर्स ms:Star Wars nl:Star Wars new:स्टार वार ja:スター・ウォーズ・シリーズ no:Star Wars nn:Star Wars uz:Star Wars pl:Gwiezdne wojny pt:Star Wars ro:Războiul stelelor (franciză) ru:Звёздные войны sco:Star Wars sq:Star Wars scn:Star Wars simple:Star Wars sk:Hviezdne vojny (kult) sl:Vojna zvezd szl:Gwjezdne wojny sr:Звездани ратови sh:Star Wars fi:Tähtien sota sv:Star Wars tl:Star Wars ta:ஸ்டார் வார்ஸ் tt:Йолдыз сугышлары th:สตาร์ วอร์ส tr:Yıldız Savaşları uk:Зоряні війни vi:Chiến tranh giữa các vì sao zh:星際大戰 Category:Star Wars Category:Elstree Studios films